Friend of the Week Week 3 2023
Theme: Can the Center Hold? A Question for Our Moment
Niyonu is a Transformation Consultant, Musician, Founder/Director of Beyond Diversity 101, CEIO (Co-creating Effective and Inclusive Organizations) and 4 Circles Beyond
Reflections on my time as Friend of the Week at Chautauqua, 2023
Niyonu D. Spann
“In studying societal systems, we must attempt to illuminate what was originally desired,
conceived, negotiated and ultimately manifested – how things have come to be the way theyare. We study to notice and document how things have been shaped, manipulated, included or dismissed. We gain this knowledge by utilizing a range of processes and tapping a multitude of frequencies (different ways of knowing). We practice and study through dance, historiography, writing, improvisation and meditation.”
~ From Niyonu’s “What I Mean by Liberation Education” (a writing in progress)
In offering a reflection on my recent week at Chautauqua, you may wonder why I begin with this excerpt from my writing. From the moment that I arrived at Chautauqua, I began to wonder just “how things have come to be the way they are” and “what was originally desired” in this place, so beloved by the guests. I found myself listening closely to what was expressed directly and what I sensed underneath and between the words and images. Indeed, I felt the call to tap a range of frequencies and to open to many ways of knowing.
I am grateful for the week that I spent at Chautauqua. The months leading up to my visit
reminded me of times when I mentioned the location of an upcoming engagement and faces would light up with recognition and a fond familiarity. Though I had no previous awareness of this place, situated in northern New York state, where a “new Quaker House” had been established, I began to realize that many in my circle of friends and colleagues did know Chautauqua and they were impressed that I was invited. People responded that they “had been” or their parents “used to go every year.” The closer I got to my week, the more curious I became and I found myself somewhat leery. I began to wonder if this might be a repeat of entering places of privilege– an encounter that would weigh heavy on my soul, requiring that I prove that I deserved to be there while all along knowing that I could never truly belong.
My experience was quite to the contrary. From the moment that my companion Jill and I arrived and were greeted by Kriss, the Friend in Residence at Quaker House, I felt at ease and in many ways, right at home. As the days unfolded, I was intellectually invigorated, spiritually enlivened and I felt authentically connected to my fellow sojourners. Throughout Chautauqua I recognizeda commitment to illuminating interconnection and assuring the well-being of all present.
As I walked the grounds, listened to the presentations, and spent lovely time with those who were also living at Quaker House for the week, I found myself returning again and again to the questions, “What was originally yearned for in creating and establishing Chautauqua?” As I heard some of the origin story, I learned that amongst the original seed thoughts were intentions to increase accessibility and inclusivity. Part of what the creators were yearning for was to break down the walls between the classes. Yet, with those intentions at the foundation of Chautauqua, what I saw around me was beauty, creativity, invitations to think deeply and dialogue, but all within one of the most exclusive communities I’ve ever witnessed.
I had the privilege of being at Chautauqua at the same time as four members of Homeboy Industries, a gang rehabilitation and re-entry program. Homeboy Industries and its founder, Father Greg Boyle, have an ongoing relationship with Chautauqua. It seemed to be mutually beneficial. I loved getting to know the four folks from Homeboy Industries, two of whom lived at Quaker House. Raw, authentic, soul stirring expressions came through these four brave people. I felt that they joined me in the experience of sitting within two intersecting realities: deep appreciation and wonder for this amazingly loving and inspiring place AND the visceral minoritizing experience. Being a dramatic few. Being in a place where, whether by historic removal, purposeful disinclusion or gatekeeping for the elite – BIPOC folks are rarely sighted.
As a Black Quaker, I am quite familiar with being in spaces that are very white and with living the polarity that I describe above. Because my life’s work focuses on creating equitable, just and liberatory spaces, questions are ever present for me about how things come to be this way, particularly within organizations founded on equality and justice. My Chautauqua experience highlighted these queries with the greatest intensity.
Yet, even though I’d be hard pressed to find a more exclusive place in terms of race and
socio-economic status, I experienced genuine kindness at Chautauqua and what I would call a neighborly way of being. This was particularly the case in and around Quaker House. Kriss, Friend in Residence, is a tremendous host and if for no other reason, I would return just to be around her light and wisdom!
Yes, as I reflect, I feel Chautauqua as a place of deep respect – a place that invites spirit,
creativity, intellectual stimulation and dialogue across difference. It is a place that nurtures the soul. For this reason, I more fully understand why people’s faces lit up when I first shared that I was going.
I reflect back on Chautauqua with a prayer that the circle can widen to include those who are so obviously missing and who have so much to bring toward creating a more whole and true Chautauqua. I pray, as I do for so many Quaker institutions, that Chautauqua find the courage to live into the inclusivity for which it may have originally yearned and that, most surely, our current world so desperately needs to see actualized.
Niyonu D. Spann, July 31, 2023